The Academic Minute

On Syracuse University Week: Trees need a long time to adapt to climate change. David Fastovich, assistant professor of geography, explains why. Dr. David Fastovich was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Bhattacharya Paleoclimate Dynamics lab at Syracuse University and will soon be starting as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University […]

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On Syracuse University Week: Global trade has been a major topic in recent headlines. Kristy Buzard, associate professor and Melvin A. Eggers Economics Faculty Scholar, explores the power of multilateralism. Kristy Buzard is an Associate Professor of Economics and Melvin A. Eggers Economics Faculty Scholar at Syracuse University. She received a Ph.D. in Economics from […]

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On Syracuse University Week: Does Earth’s memory hold the key to our future? Claire Rubbelke, Ph.D. graduate at Syracuse University and Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, digs in to find out. I recently completed my Ph.D. at Syracuse University and started a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Notre […]

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On Syracuse University Week: Being perfect under pressure is a difficult task. Rachael Dailey Goodwin, assistant professor of management and Lender Center Research Affiliate, examines this through the lens of ballet. Rachael Dailey Goodwin is an Assistant Professor of Management at Syracuse University. She completed a Ph.D. at the University of Utah and a research […]

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On Syracuse University Week:  The fertility rate in the United States may pose challenges in the future. Leonard M. Lopoo, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics, says certain policies may do more harm than good. Leonard M. Lopoo is the Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics; Associate Dean and Chair of the Department of Public […]

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Health among those afflicted with diabetes is improving, but obtaining work remains a challenge. Jack Chapel, assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Southern California, examines why. Jack Chapel is an assistant professor (research) of health policy and management at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Price School of Public Policy […]

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Games can influence our world in many ways. Samuel Pizelo, assistant professor of game studies at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, explores games as system-modeling tools. Samuel Pizelo is an Assistant Professor of Game Studies at the Institute for Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. He completed his PhD at […]

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On this Student Spotlight: Can we grow food on Mars?

Robert Cheatham, PhD student in chemical engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology, digs into the regolith to find out.

Faculty Bio:

Robert Cheatham is a PhD student and researcher pursuing a doctoral degree in chemical engineering at Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) in Melbourne, Florida. An award-winning researcher, Cheatham earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering with a minor in nanotechnology and nanoscience from Florida Tech, where he served as president of the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He won best in show at the 2024 Northrup Grumman Showcase for his work on methanol conversion from cruise ship food waste, earned first place for his research in advanced chemically activated biochar, and was selected as the outstanding student of the year by Florida Tech’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

Transcript:

The future of space exploration calls for colonizing Mars in the decades ahead. The top five commodities required for human settlement there are energy, oxygen, construction materials, water, and food. Science confirms that the first four are abundant in economically viable concentrations and in forms that can likely be extracted, obtained or created on Mars.

Food, however, remains the biggest challenge on the list. Given the significant payload weight associated with transporting food, colonists will need to grow much of what they will eat to survive.

The challenge is that the Martian regolith—the “soil” that exists there, as it stands alone with its poor water retention and low carbon content, is not the greatest “soil” for growing much of anything.

Regolith is primarily a bunch of metals. It’s basically all rust, much like the stuff that comes off of our shovels and other tools after they’ve been sitting in the tool shed for a few months.

And, just as we cannot send tons of food into space, we cannot ship tons of dirt to Mars for farming purposes. So we will need to work with the regolith, to enrich it and improve it, to grow crops to feed space colonists.

My research explores how we can modify the regolith to make something new that can be used for agriculture–and that will also hold and retain water, which will be an available yet precious commodity on Mars. We have confirmed that, by creating a composite substance by incorporating biochar, an activated carbon similar to charcoal produced from burning biomass, and mixing it with regolith, we can accomplish both.

The process creates a brand-new substance using heat, energy, and waste in which we can grow food.

It’s renewable and reusable.

And it’s not going to run out on Mars.

Read More:[ScienceDirect] – Co-activation of Martian regolith and hydrochar for enhanced water retention and water holding capacityGoogle Scholar

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Can the evolution of one species copy from another? Jonathan Losos, William H. Danforth distinguished university professor at Washington University in St. Louis, looks to answer this. Jonathan Losos is a renowned evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. His lab researches the behavioral and evolutionary ecology of lizards as well as the evolutionary […]

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Understanding how humans learn language provides a blueprint for designing other intelligent learning systems. Jon Rawski, assistant professor in the department of linguistics and language development at San Jose State University, discusses how to do so. Jon Rawski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Language Development at San José State University […]

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